Continuous washing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of pervious cloth in which wash solution is applied to the rolls in the form of a plurality of reciprocable cascades to maintain the surfaces of the pervious cloth wet for a time sufficient to saturate the same; excess wash solution is continually drained from the mass of tightly wound rolls. The cloth articles are transported through a washing apparatus on a conveyor supported by a plurality of shafts extending through movable side walls of the washing apparatus and supported on bearings outside of the washing apparatus to prevent contact of the wash solution with the bearings supporting the shafts, orbital movement of the movable walls imparts similar orbital movement to the conveyor supported by the shafts to impart cycloidal movement to the cloth articles transported by the conveyor. The cloth articles are rinsed by directing a mist of gas and rinse liquid along a path normal to the articles therethrough to prevent puddles of the rinse liquid and the wash solution from forming thereon; thereafter, liquids are expressed from the articles by feeding the articles onto the side of a freely rotatable cylinder and therearound and upwardly between the cylinder and an associated roller, the cylinder and the roller are urged toward each other to press the articles therebetween to express the liquid therefrom. A dryer completes the drying of the articles.

United States Patent Bahnsen 154] CONTINUOUS WASHING APPARATUS [72]lnventor: Erwin B. Bahnsen,1-linsdale, 111.

[73] Assignee: Steiner American Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah [22]Filed: Nov. 25, 1969 [2]] Appl. No.: 879,764

[52] US. Cl ..68/205 R, 118/324, 134/72, 134/129, 134/172 [51] Int. Cl..B05c 5/00 [58] Field of Search .....68/205 R; 118/239, 324, 314;134/129, 172, 72, 67, 68,131, 151, 73, 74

Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Attorney-Prangley, Clayton, Mullin,

Dithmar & Vogel 5 7 ABSTRACT Method and apparatus for loosening soilfrom a mass of pervious cloth in which wash solution is applied to therolls in the form of a plurality of reciprocable cascades to maintainthe surfaces of the pervious cloth wet for a time sufficient to saturatethe same; excess wash solution is continually drained from the mass oftightly wound rolls. The cloth articles are transported through awashing apparatus on a conveyor supported by a plurality of shaftsextending through movable side walls of the washing apparatus andsupported on bearings outside of the washing apparatus to preventcontact of the wash solution with the bearings supporting the shafts,orbital movement of the movable walls imparts similar orbital movementto the conveyor supported by the shafts to impart cycloidal movement tothe cloth articles transported by the conveyor. The cloth articles arerinsed by directing a mist of gas and rinse liquid along a path normalto the articles therethrough to prevent puddles of the rinse liquid andthe wash solution from forming thereon; thereafter, liquids areexpressed from the articles by feeding the articles onto the side of afreely rotatable cylinder and therearound and upwardly between thecylinder and an associated roller, the cylinder and the roller are urgedtoward each other to press the articles therebetween to express theliquid therefrom. A dryer completes the drying of the articles.

38 Claims, 44 Drawing Figures PATENTEDum 1 1 1912 SHEET [13 0F wwv v?PATENTEDUBI 11 I972 SHEET on or 20 PATENTEDucmmz 3.698.214

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PATENTEDnm 17 m2 SHEET 13 [1F 20 .090 nmwnm kmm P'ATENTEDnm 11 m2 SHEET1n [1F 20 FIG. 28

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1. Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of pervious cloth comprisinga foraminous conveyor including a plurality of spacedapart tubes coatedon the outside thereof with a vinyl plastic resin for transporting themass of pervious cloth, a crib surrounding said conveyor for retainingthe mass of pervious cloth thereon, mechanism associated with said cribfor applying a wash solution to the mass of pervious cloth, saidforaminous conveyor facilitating the continual draining therethrough andfrom said crib of excess wash solution from the mass of pervious clothtransported by said foraminous conveyor, said mechanism serving tomaintain the surfaces of the pervious cloth wet for a time sufficient tosaturate the pervious cloth, whereby to Loosen the soil from thepervious cloth.
 2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein saidforaminous conveyor includes a plurality of spaced-apart slats.
 3. Theapparatus set forth in claim 1, and further including drive mechanismoperatively connected to said conveyor for causing the same to travel ina closed loop, thereby to transport the mass of pervious cloth throughsaid crib from one end thereof to the other end thereof.
 4. Theapparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said crib having two spacedopenings therein, one of said openings serving as a loading port forintroducing the mass of pervious cloth into said crib and the other ofsaid openings serving as a discharge port for the exiting of the mass ofpervious cloth from said crib.
 5. The apparatus set forth in claim 1,wherein the surfaces of said crib exposed to the wash solution arestainless steel.
 6. The apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein saidcrib comprises a plurality of juxtaposed sections with the endmostsections being provided respectively with a loading port and a dischargeport, thereby to facilitate easy addition of sections thereto andremoval of sections therefrom to change the capacity thereof.
 7. Theapparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein the wash solution applyingmechanism is positioned above the mass of pervious cloth.
 8. Theapparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said wash solution applyingmechanism is adapted to apply the wash solution as a continuous cascadeto the mass of pervious cloth.
 9. The apparatus set forth in claim 1,wherein saId wash solution applying mechanism includes a troughpositioned above the mass of pervious cloth, and further includes meansfor introducing wash solution into said trough to overflow the same andonto the mass of pervious cloth due to the force of gravity without therequirement of a pressure head.
 10. The apparatus set forth in claim 1,and further comprising apparatus associated with said crib forrecirculating to said wash solution applying mechanism the excess washsolution drained from said crib.
 11. The apparatus set forth in claim 1,and further comprising apparatus associated with said crib forautomatically recirculating to said wash solution applying mechanism theexcess wash solution drained from said crib.
 12. Apparatus for looseningsoil from a mass of randomly arranged, tightly wound, multi-layer rollsof pervious cloth comprising a foraminous conveyor for transporting themass of tightly wound rolls, a crib surrounding said conveyor retainingthe mass of tightly wound rolls thereon, mechanism associated with saidcrib for periodically applying a wash solution to the mass of tightlywound rolls, said foraminous conveyor facilitating the continualdraining therethrough and from said crib of excess wash solution fromthe mass of tightly wound rolls transported by said foraminous conveyor,said mechanism serving to maintain the surfaces of the tightly woundrolls wet for a time sufficient to saturate each of the tightly woundrolls to the innermost layer thereof, whereby to loosen the soil fromthe cloth.
 13. Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of randomlyarranged, tightly wound, multi-layer rolls of pervious cloth comprisinga foraminous conveyor for supporting and transporting the mass oftightly wound rolls, a crib surrounding said conveyor for retaining themass of tightly wound rolls thereon and including a loading port and adischarge port, supply mechanism associated with said crib including atrough overlying said conveyor, said supply mechanism operable toproduce a cascade of wash solution from said trough directed onto saidconveyor and periodically onto the mass of tightly wound rolls supportedthereby, operation of said conveyor serving to move the mass of tightlywound rolls from said loading port through the cascade of wash solutionto said discharge port, said conveyor and said crib being constructedand arranged for the continual draining of excess solution from the massof tiGhtly wound rolls on said conveyor during the passage thereof fromsaid loading port to said discharge port, the periodic application ofthe cascade of wash solution to the mass of tightly wound rolls duringthe transport thereof by said conveyor serving to maintain the surfacesof the tightly wound rolls wet for a time sufficient to saturate theinnermost layers thereof, whereby substantially to loosen all of thesoil disposed on and in the pervious cloth during the transportationthereof through said crib on said conveyor.
 14. The apparatus set forthin claim 13, wherein said trough has a length substantially equal to thewidth of said conveyor within said crib.
 15. The apparatus set forth inclaim 13, wherein said trough has a length substantially equal to thewidth of said conveyor within said crib, said trough being disposed withthe longer dimension thereof generally transverse to the direction ofmovement of said conveyor.
 16. The apparatus set forth in claim 13,wherein said trough has impervious sides and bottom, thereby to causewash solution introduced therein to overflow the sides thereof to formthe cascade of wash solution.
 17. The apparatus set forth in claim 13,wherein said trough is V-shaped in cross section and has on the upperedges of the sides thereof inwardly turned flanges, thereby to causewash solution introduced therein smoothly to overflow said upper edgesto flow along the sides thereof to form at the bottom thereof thecascade of wash solution.
 18. Apparatus for loosening soil from a massof pervious cloth comprising a foraminous conveyor for supporting andtransporting a mass of pervious cloth, a crib surrounding said conveyorfor retaining the mass of pervious cloth thereon and including a loadingport and a discharge port, supply mechanism associated with said criband including a trough overlying said conveyor, said supply mechanismbeing operable to produce a cascade of wash solution from said troughdirected onto said conveyor and periodically onto the mass of perviouscloth supported thereby, motor mechanism connected to said trough forreciprocating said trough along a path overlying said conveyor,operation of said conveyor serving to move the mass of pervious clothfrom said loading port through the cascade of wash solution moving insaid reciprocal path to said discharge port, said conveyor and said cribbeing constructed and arranged for the continual draining of excess washsolution from the mass of pervious cloth on said conveyor during thepassage thereof from said loading port to said discharge port, theperiodic application of the cascade of wash solution to the mass ofpervious cloth during the transport thereof by said conveyor serving tomaintain the surfaces of the cloth wet for a time sufficient to saturatethe pervious cloth, whereby substantially to loosen all of the soildisposed on and in the cloth during the transportation thereof throughsaid crib on said conveyor.
 19. The apparatus set forth in claim 18,wherein said reciprocal path is in the direction of movement of saidconveyor.
 20. Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of pervious clothcomprising a foraminous conveyor for supporting and transporting a massof pervious cloth, a crib surrounding said conveyor for retaining themass of pervious cloth thereon and including a loading port and adischarge port, supply mechanism associated with said crib and includinga trough overlying said conveyor, said supply mechanism being operableto produce a cascade of wash solution from said trough directed ontosaid conveyor and the mass of pervious cloth supported thereby,operation of said conveyor serving to move the mass of pervious clothfrom said loading port through the cascade of wash solution to saiddischarge port, said conveyor and said crib being constructed andarranged for the continual draining of excess wash solution from themass of pervious cloth on said conveyor during the passage thereof fromsaid loading port to said discharge port, apParatus for collecting thedrained wash solution and recirculating the same to said supplymechanism, means including apparatus for mixing water and wash additivesfor adding make-up wash solution to the drained wash solution inresponse to depletion of the drained wash solution to maintainsubstantially constant in volume the cascade of wash solution directedonto said conveyor and the mass of pervious cloth supported thereby, theapplication of the cascade of wash solution to the mass of perviouscloth during the transport thereof by said conveyor serving to maintainthe surfaces of the cloth wet for a time sufficient to saturate thecloth, whereby substantially to loosen all of the soil disposed on andin the cloth during the transportation thereof through said crib on saidconveyor.
 21. The apparatus set forth in claim 20, wherein said meansfor adding make-up wash solution to the drained wash solution operatesautomatically.
 22. The apparatus set forth in claim 20, wherein themake-up wash solution added to the drained wash solution is essentiallythe same as the wash solution in the cascade of wash solution directedon to said conveyor and the mass of pervious cloth supported thereby.23. The apparatus set forth in claim 20, wherein said means for addingmake-up wash solution includes apparatus for mixing water and liquidadditives to provide the make-up wash solution.
 24. The apparatus setforth in claim 20, wherein said means for adding make-up wash solutioninclude apparatus for mixing water and solid additives to provide themake-up wash solution.
 25. Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass ofrandomly arranged, tightly wound, multilayer rolls of pervious clothcomprising a foraminous conveyor for supporting and transporting themass of tightly wound rolls, a crib surrounding said conveyor forretaining the mass of tightly wound rolls thereon and including aloading port and a discharge port, a plurality of supply mechanismsassociated with said crib and including a plurality of troughs overlyingsaid conveyor, said supply mechanisms being operable to produce aplurality of cascades of wash solution from said plurality of troughsdirected onto said conveyor and periodically onto the mass of tightlywound rolls supported thereby, operation of said conveyor serving tomove the mass of tightly wound rolls from said loading port through theplurality of cascades of wash solution to said discharge port, saidconveyor and said crib being constructed and arranged for the continualdraining of excess wash solution from the mass of tightly wound rolls onsaid conveyor during the passage thereof from said loading port to saiddischarge port, the periodic application of the plurality of cascades ofwash solution to the mass of tightly wound rolls during the transportthereof by said conveyor serving to maintain the surfaces of the clothwet for a time sufficient to saturate the cloth to the innermost layerthereof whereby substantially to loosen all of the soil disposed on andin the cloth during the transportation thereof through said crib on saidconveyor.
 26. The apparatus set forth in claim 25, wherein each of saidtroughs has a length substantially equal to the width of said conveyorwithin said crib.
 27. The apparatus set forth in claim 25, wherein eachof said troughs has a length substantially equal to the width of saidconveyor within said crib, said troughs being disposed with the longerdimension thereof generally transverse to the direction of movement ofsaid conveyor.
 28. The apparatus set forth in claim 25, wherein each ofsaid troughs has impervious sides and bottom, thereby to cause washsolutions introduced therein to overflow the sides thereof to form thecascades of wash solution.
 29. The apparatus set forth in claim 25,wherein each of said troughs is V-shaped in cross section and has on theupper edges of the sides thereof inwardly-turned flanges, thereby tocause wash solutions introduced therein smoothly to overflow said uPperedges to flow along the sides thereof to form at the bottom thereof thecascades of wash solutions.
 30. The apparatus set forth in claim 25,wherein each of said troughs has a length substantially equal to thewidth of said conveyor within said crib, said trough being disposed withthe longer dimension thereof generally transverse to the direction ofmovement of said conveyor, said troughs being longitudinallyspaced-apart along the direction of movement of said conveyor. 31.Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of randomly arranged, tightlywound, multilayer rolls of pervious cloth comprising a foraminousconveyor for supporting and transporting the mass of tightly woundrolls, a crib surrounding said conveyor for retaining the mass oftightly wound rolls thereon and including a loading port and a dischargeport, a plurality of supply mechanisms associated with said crib andincluding a plurality of troughs overlying said conveyor, said supplymechanisms being operable to produce a plurality of cascades of washsolution from said plurality of troughs directed onto said conveyor andperiodically onto the mass of tightly wound rolls supported thereby,motor mechanism connected to said troughs for respectively reciprocatingsaid troughs along longitudinally aligned paths overlying said conveyorthereby to form a plurality of zones, operation of said conveyor servingto move the mass of tightly wound rolls from said loading port to saiddischarge port through said plurality of zones formed by the cascades ofwash solution, said conveyor and said crib being constructed andarranged for the continual draining of excess wash solution from themass of tightly wound rolls on said conveyor during the passage thereoffrom said loading port to said discharge port, and apparatus associatedwith each zone for collecting excess wash solution draining from themass of tightly wound rolls transported by said conveyor through each ofsaid zones and for recirculating to the associated one of said troughsthe excess wash solution so collected, the application of the pluralityof cascades of wash solution to the mass of tightly wound rolls duringthe transport thereof by said conveyor through said zones serving tomaintain the surfaces of the rolls wet for a time sufficient to saturateeach of the tightly wound rolls to the innermost layer thereof uponexiting from the last of said zones, whereby substantially to loosen allof the soil disposed on and in the cloth forming the tightly wound rollsduring the transportation thereof through said crib on said conveyor.32. The apparatus set forth in claim 31, wherein said reciprocal pathsare in the direction of movement of said conveyor.
 33. Apparatus forloosening soil from a mass of randomly arranged, tightly wound,multi-layer rolls of pervious cloth comprising a foraminous conveyor forsupporting and transporting the mass of tightly wound rolls, a cribsurrounding said conveyor for retaining the mass of tightly wound rollsthereon and including a loading port and a discharge port, a pluralityof supply mechanisms associated with said crib and including a pluralityof troughs overlying said conveyor, said supply mechanisms beingoperable to produce a plurality of cascades of wash solution from saidplurality of troughs directed onto said conveyor and the mass of tightlywound rolls supported thereby, said troughs being respectivelyreciprocable along longitudinally aligned paths overlying said conveyorthereby to form a plurality of zones, operation of said conveyor servingto move the mass of tightly wound rolls from said loading port to saiddischarge port through said plurality of zones formed by the cascades ofwash solution, said conveyor and said crib being constructed andarranged for the continual drainage of excess wash solution from themass of tightly wound rolls on said conveyor during the passage thereoffrom said loading port to said discharge port, apparatus associated witheach zone for collecting excess wash solution draining from the mass oftightly wound rolls transported by said conveyor through each of saidzones and for recirculating to the associated one of said troughs theexcess wash solution so collected, and a plurality of temperaturecontrol devices for controlling the temperature of the plurality ofcascades of wash solution thereby to apply the wash solution in certainof said zones at an elevated temperature with respect to the washsolution in an adjacent one of said zones sequentially to subject themass of tightly wound rolls to wash solutions at different temperaturesto induce thermal shock in each of the tightly wound rolls, theapplication of the plurality of cascades of wash solution to the mass oftightly wound rolls during the transport thereof by said conveyorthrough said zones serving to maintain the surfaces of the rolls wet fora time sufficient to saturate each of the tightly wound rolls to theinnermost layer thereof upon exiting from the last of said zones,whereby substantially to loosen all of the soil disposed on and in thecloth forming the tightly wound rolls during the transportation thereofthrough said crib on said conveyor.
 34. The apparatus set forth in claim33, wherein said temperature control mechanism is adapted to providewash solution to said supply mechanisms at a temperature in the rangefrom about 50* to about 200* F.
 35. The apparatus set forth in claim 33,wherein the wash solution supplied to said certain of said zones is at atemperature in the range from about 150* to about 200* F.
 36. Theapparatus set forth in claim 33, wherein the wash solution supplied toan adjacent one of said zones is at a temperature of about 50* F. 37.The apparatus set forth in claim 33, wherein the wash solution suppliedto the last of said zones is at a temperature of about 190* F. 38.Apparatus for loosening soil from a mass of randomly arranged, tightlywound, multilayer rolls of pervious cloth comprising a foraminousconveyor for supporting and transporting the mass of tightly woundrolls, a crib surrounding said conveyor for retaining the mass oftightly wound rolls thereon and including a loading port and a dischargeport, a plurality of supply mechanisms associated with said crib andincluding a plurality of troughs overlying said conveyor, said supplymechanisms being operable to produce a plurality of cascades of washsolution from said plurality of troughs directed onto said conveyor andthe mass of tightly wound rolls supported thereby, said troughs beingrespectively reciprocable along longitudinally aligned paths overlyingsaid conveyor thereby to form a plurality of zones, operation of saidconveyor serving to move the mass of tightly wound rolls from saidloading port to said discharge port through said plurality of zonesformed by the cascades of wash solution, said conveyor and said cribbeing constructed and arranged for the continual draining of excess washsolution from the mass of tightly wound rolls on said conveyor duringthe passage thereof from said loading port to said discharge port,apparatus associated with each zone for collecting excess wash solutiondraining from the mass of tightly wound rolls transported by saidconveyor through each of said zones and for recirculating to theassociated one of said troughs the excess wash solution so collected,and means including apparatus for mixing water and wash additives foradding make-up wash solution respectively to the drained wash solutionfrom each zone in response to depletion of the drained wash solutionfrom the respective zone to maintain substantially constant in volumeeach of the cascades of wash solution directed onto said conveyor andthe mass of tightly wound rolls supported thereby, the application ofthe plurality of cascades of wash solution to the mass of tightly woundrolls during the transport thereof by said conveyor through said zonesserving to maintain the surfaces of the rolls wet For a time sufficientto saturate each of the tightly wound rolls to the innermost layerthereof upon exiting from the last of said zones, whereby substantiallyto loosen all of the soil disposed on and in the cloth forming thetightly wound rolls during the transportation thereof through said cribon said conveyor.